Warne no legend

Date: January 22 2013

Jesse Hogan

EXCLUSIVE

MARLON Samuels says his recent spat with Shane Warne would probably have degenerated into fisticuffs had it occurred a few years earlier, and he was shocked at the behaviour of the Melbourne Stars players.

In his first interview since fracturing his eye-socket in the Big Bash League's Melbourne derby on January 6 at the MCG, the sometimes volatile West Indies all-rounder said he was disgusted at Warne's baiting of him and also the apparent apathy of the Stars players after he was struck in the eye after top-edging a Lasith Malinga bouncer.

''For me, running right through my mind there and then was that I was not just representing me but that I was representing my family, Jamaica and the Renegades, and that my actions could be very disgraceful for me, my family and the Renegades,'' Samuels told Fairfax Media. ''There were a lot of kids in the ground - Twenty20 is about family - so I couldn't afford to react in a very bad way.

''[Three years ago] I would have reacted in a very aggressive way, but I've been through a lot and I use all those things. I can control myself and control my energy. I was able to come out on top with him behaving the way that he was behaving. He's supposed to be a legend in Australia. What he did was give me the stripes, so I am the legend now.''

Samuels hasn't washed the blood off his helmet to remind him of the incident.

Warne's outburst, which involved swearing and tugging on Samuels' shirt, was triggered by Samuels having hindered the Stars' David Hussey from going for a second run earlier in the match, although a charge against Samuels over that incident has been dismissed.

That Samuels later lobbed his bat in Warne's direction, after an underarm throw from the Stars captain struck him, was deemed worthy only of a reprimand, with Cricket Australia's Code of Conduct commissioner ruling Samuels' conduct ''resulted from extreme provocation''.

Samuels insisted Warne had gone too far in trying to unsettle him.

''He has kids and if you have kids you have to respect other people's kids. You can talk in a game - that's the norm, people talk - and try to get into someone's head but you don't get physical. That's what he did. He took it to the next level, which was just way overboard,'' Samuels said.

''He was a very desperate man doing desperate things. That's not the way you go about it when you're the face of the tournament with kids looking on.''

Samuels said he was staggered that after he was struck in the eye while batting the only Stars player who sought to check on his welfare was the bowler, Malinga.

''No matter how much you want another player to be out, no matter how many things you're going to tell that player, you do not want to see a fellow player get hurt,'' he said.

''The rest of the players, what were you doing? It's not a war, it's a game. We're here to entertain people, but we're here to show love to one another as cricketers as well.''

Samuels only signed a one-year contract for the Renegades but was so appreciative of their conduct throughout his stint with them, which included being confined to his hotel room for the past fortnight due to his injury, that he vowed he would not play for any other Australian team.

''If the Renegades do not want to take me next year that's [the end of] my Big Bash for life,'' he said.

Samuels urged CA to take a tougher stance on behaviour among players and officials in future BBL seasons.

He was due to return home to Jamaica on Tuesday, having finally been given flight clearance from his doctors, and is likely to require another month on the sidelines until he can play again.

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